Shadow Empire

Chapter 736 High Firepower

"Actually, you don't have to come down. It's also convenient for me to go up."

Lance said this as he shook hands with Admiral Miles.

Admiral Miles laughed, let go of Lance's hand and put his arm around his shoulder, which made some soldiers in the distance look at Lance with confusion.

It was rare for the naval commander to make such close-range movements. They were all curious about what had happened between Lance and Admiral Miles that made him so excited.

Fortunately, ditch literature is not popular here now, otherwise news like Lance...Miles... will spread soon.

No matter how they guessed, they would never guess that what made Admiral Miles so wild was the rustling of money!

The two men went upstairs, and as they passed the combat command room, Lance noticed the activities going on in the room and the fleet displayed on a large sand table.

He stopped and looked for about two or three seconds, and Admiral Miles walked over and closed the door, "There's nothing to see!"

He said as he and Lance continued walking forward.

"The first batch of fees has been paid. They asked me to express my gratitude to you. Because of you, we are able to... I'm not in a position to put it so bluntly, but anyway, everyone is very grateful to you."

Admiral Miles said that he couldn't be so blunt, but in fact he had already been very blunt.

Lance smiled and said modestly, "I just provided an idea. You and Congress are responsible for these matters."

Admiral Miles disagreed. “No one has thought of this approach before. What are they doing?”

"So Lance, this is a genius idea. You don't have to be so humble. No one will think you are arrogant because this idea is really good!"

He paused for a moment and said, "I heard you asked for a war correspondent pass?"

Lance told George his thoughts and mentioned the many times he had tried to stop him. "He is the winner of the 'Golden Newspaper Award'. If he insists on going to the front, there will be many people willing to support him."

"There are not only pro-war groups in the Federation, but also pro-peace groups. They are also a force that cannot be ignored."

Admiral Miles nodded. "Yes, these people are even more eager than our enemies to see us suffer an unprecedented defeat, and then give up the war and return home in disgrace, so as to prove that their theory is correct."

"But we won't do that. We will not only destroy the enemy's plot, but also become the winner!"

In any era and in any country, there is always a group of fools who stand against the trend. For these anti-war and peace-loving people, if they can obtain some real and shocking news from the front line, it will help them push public opinion in a direction that is beneficial to them.

Some of them were in high positions, and if they used some means, they would have a chance to send George to the front line.

Admiral Miles considered and said, "There is something I must remind you, Lance."

"The front line is dangerous..."

His meaning was clear. It would be dangerous for George to go to the front line, but Lance heard something else. "Is the situation so grim?"

Admiral Miles was stunned for a moment. He frowned and recalled what he had just said. After making sure that he had not revealed any information from the front line, he hesitantly asked, "How did you judge that?"

"I don't think I told you what happened on the front line?"

"Or do you have any other source of information?"

His reaction deepened Lance's view of the war. "I have been paying attention to news reports about the front line recently. The newspapers never mentioned our casualties. They just said that we resisted the enemy's attack, crushed the enemy's conspiracy, and the victory belongs to us."

"Don't you think this is too glamorous?"

"This is the first time that the Federation's army has participated in such a large-scale foreign war. The cruelty of war is far more brutal than what we have assumed in class. It is impossible for our soldiers to adapt and fight back well as soon as they enter the battlefield."

"Otherwise, there would be no need for all that alcohol and sedatives."

“With the navy also joining the operation, I think the situation on the front line is not optimistic.”

Admiral Miles showed an amazed expression, "Your analysis is very accurate, it is true."

He hesitated for a few seconds, "The casualties are huge now, the death toll has exceeded 30,000."

"Thirty thousand?" Lance's voice rose a lot, "That's really bad news."

Such heavy casualties occurred so soon after the war began, which was definitely beyond everyone's expectations.

Admiral Miles smiled bitterly and said, "What's worse is that the Department of Defense and the Army now not only want to defend, they also want to attack."

Lance continued his words, "Only the fruits of victory gained from the attack can cover up the true situation of so many casualties."

Admiral Miles did not deny it. "We need to grow up in a short period of time, so a war of higher intensity is necessary. It will become a ripening agent and screen out some veterans who are adaptable to the battlefield as soon as possible."

"This is actually done to prevent subsequent troops from suffering heavy casualties when they enter the battlefield as they do now."

"Veterans will be assigned to new companies to help them quickly adapt to the battlefield and teach them how to live longer."

The navy will attack a logistics base city of the Dantra Republic close to the flank battlefield, and at the same time attempt a landing operation to draw troops from the flank battlefield.

Provide an advantageous environment for the army on the side battlefield to launch an attack.

The military and the Ministry of Defense are planning to use death to pile up a group of veterans!

From a rational point of view, their approach is undoubtedly very correct. If they are always dragged down little by little in a slow-paced passive battle, it would be better to just crash into them like this!

This collision might help us escape from our current predicament and enter a new world.

But emotionally speaking, more people might die.

If so many people died on the defending side, there would be even more deaths on the attacking side.

Lance was silent after hearing this. This was the cruelty of the ruler.

Everyone, including themselves, repeats that human life is an inestimable treasure, but when they need it, they can easily throw this treasure into the water.

Admiral Miles laughed twice, "Actually, you don't have to worry about the outcome of the war. We will definitely win, and we will definitely be the force that determines the direction of the war."

"I mention this because of your friend, George."

"The situation on the front line is very complicated. Some of it is related to our strategic issues, as well as domestic public opinion issues. If he crosses the line..."

Admiral Miles added a little tail to this, "These reporters are always trying to make a big news. The Golden Newspaper Award you mentioned, to some extent, is a judgment based on whether the trouble they have caused is big enough."

Lance was amused by his statement, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt that it was very true.

Behind every Golden Newspaper Award, there is a journalist who has uncovered a bloody scar in society and made the whole society feel the pain.

In this way, the Golden Newspaper Award is an award to determine who can stab the deepest and most cruelly.

Lance laughed a few times and then sighed, "If he really tries to pass on some news that is not allowed to be brought back, as a federal, I know that the interests of the country are above all else!"

This indirectly shows his attitude. He has persuaded George, but if he insists on crossing the red line, then he will not stop him.

It might seem like Lance is a little callous, but actually it's George's problem.

Lance had already warned him, but he also served as a guarantor, allowing him to go to the front line.

If he insisted on reporting news from the front, he would obviously be disregarding Lance's interests. He didn't care at all about the price Lance paid to guarantee that he would go to the front, or the consequences of his doing so.

So he really has a problem with his brain, and he deserves to die.

Admiral Miles was very satisfied with Lance's answer, "Yes, the interests of the country are above all else."

He paused, "You definitely didn't come here to tell me this, so tell me, what do you want?"

Lance took out a cigarette, handed one to Admiral Miles, and lit one for himself, "Do you have any obsolete armored vehicles or something, the kind with machine guns and bullets?"

Admiral Miles didn't react at first, "We are deploying the latest equipment, have you forgotten?"

"Even this naval base is brand new!" But as he spoke, he seemed to have thought of something, "Are you in trouble?"

Lance nodded, then shook his head. He told Admiral Miles about the Holy Bell Party and what happened today. Admiral Miles frowned.

"These gangsters are damn good!" After he finished speaking, he suddenly looked at Lance awkwardly, "I'm not talking about you."

Lance rolled his eyes, "I pretended I didn't hear that."

Admiral Miles laughed, "I see, you want to give them some shock!"

He considered the following, "We recently had two armored vehicles that had some minor problems, so we plan to get rid of them."

"Once you get it, you'd better find a way to make the shell look damaged or battle-scarred. That way, even if someone comes to investigate, we can get away with it."

"As for the machine guns... this is not easy to deal with, but there will be machine guns and ammunition left in the two armored vehicles. We will recover this equipment afterwards."

Lance smiled and nodded, "Thank you so much!"

Admiral Miles liked the fact that Lance owed him a favor, "You're welcome, we're friends, and you've given me much more than I've ever given you!"

Of course, that being said, next time he asks Lance to do something for him, Lance will not refuse just because he offers a lot.

Soon, Admiral Miles asked his adjutant to come in in front of Lance, and gave him instructions according to his method. He even didn't let Lance do the aging, and let them do it themselves.

He even invited Lance to go over and take a look, which was certainly what Lance wanted.

Soon the adjutant brought Lance to the equipment depot, and four soldiers drove out of the garage in two armored vehicles.

These were brand new armored vehicles, and Lance could even smell a hint of butter.

"Would you like to come up and sit for a while?" the adjutant invited.

Lance did not refuse. After getting on the armored vehicle, he found that the environment here was not as comfortable as it looked outside. People still could not stand up completely, only the machine gunner could.

The shooting holes on the car body can only allow people to sit on a chair or bend slightly to shoot, which is a bit awkward.

They went around in a circle, and Lance fired a burst of bullets. His hands were shaking slightly, but he had to admit, it was very satisfying.

Soon two armored vehicles were sent to the shooting range, and then a dozen soldiers started shooting at them with rifles and submachine guns.

Lance almost spoke up several times and asked them to "be gentle", after all, this thing would soon belong to him!
After a few rounds of strafing, the two armored vehicles looked really bad. They even used torches to smoke the underside of the shell for a while, which made the beautiful paint surface black, making it look like it was about to be scrapped.

When the situation was almost settled, the adjutant asked the soldiers to drive the two armored vehicles to the designated location. "Mr. Lance, you can have someone take them away anytime, anywhere."

"The General asked me to tell you that machine gunners need training. It's best to let them get familiar with the feel of the machine guns before they are actually used."

"You don't have to worry about the ammunition. No matter how much you need, we will take care of it."

This is a traditional military skill. Once a live-fire shooting is reported, thousands of bullets in the warehouse will disappear in a reasonable manner.

Lance did not refuse. He did not go back to Admiral Miles' office, but called Erwin and Hiram directly and asked them to come over.

After thinking about it, he decided that Hiram would definitely use a machine gun, otherwise he would be whispering in Lance's ear for the rest of his life!

As for the other one, he licked his lips. Actually, he can do it too!

Shooting a gun, shooting a pistol, shooting a submachine gun, shooting a rifle, and shooting a machine gun is not a change at all.

Just in that short moment, the machine gun was like the scythe of the god of death, wherever it was swung, people were harvested in droves!

What if that was a person?

Is it an enemy?

He loves this!
Soon, Alvin and Hiram came over with some people, and Lance had already signed the purchase agreement.

"See those two armored vehicles?" Lance took them to the parking lot and pointed at the armored vehicles parked there.

Hiram brushed his hair, "If you mean two armored vehicles that look like they're going to be scrapped, then yes, I saw them!"

Lance raised his foot and kicked at him, but he dodged it flexibly, "Don't tell me we should drive this thing back!"

Lance glared at him, but Alvin walked to the loading side very seriously. He took out a handkerchief and wiped some blackened areas, revealing the brand new shell inside.

He turned around and looked at Lance in surprise and said, "These look new!"

Lance nodded slightly, "Let's make the shell look old, so that if it gets traced, it will be hard to explain to the military."

"There are two machine guns inside. We'll go play by the lake later."

Hiram's eyes began to light up, "I've never fired a machine gun before, take me with you!"

His tone was particularly pious and serious, "I must be an excellent machine gunner, sir!"

Lance shook his head in amusement, "Get in the car."

Soon two armored vehicles and two cars arrived at Angel Lake, along with two soldiers. They taught Lance and his men how to install the machine guns on the machine gun turrets and how to quickly replace the barrels.

These machine guns use a quick-change device. After a magazine of bullets is fired, the barrel will be removed by hammering a metal part hard.

Then install the new barrel and put the replaced barrel in a wooden box aside.

He explained a lot of things, taught them step by step, and then asked Lance and the others to each shoot a chain of bullets, which made Hiram very happy!

"When do we leave?" Hiram couldn't calm down on the way back.

Originally he thought that his submachine gun with a drum magazine was the coolest weapon, but now he realized that the machine gun was the coolest weapon!
Lance thought for a moment and said, "Soon."

The armored vehicle was transported back on a flatbed truck and covered with a tarpaulin, so it is not appropriate for people to discover it at the moment.

By the time people discover it, it should appear on the "front line".

The intensity of the State Attorney's Office and the State Police's pursuit of the Holy Bell Party suddenly decreased, which made Joshua feel relieved. There was no news from those few people who clamored to kill Lance, so he knew that they must have failed.

Now he faces a choice.

It is better to fight with Lance a few times first, test Lance's strength and then make a choice.

It would be better to let Adams contact the five major families directly to see who is willing to mediate.

In the former case, he would have to face certain risks, but the advantage was that if the Lance family was not that strong, he would not have to pay a huge price to Adams or any of the five major families to resolve the matter.

The downside is that if the Lance family is really strong and he can't deal with these people, he may have to pay more to contact Adams.

These brokers are hyenas. They raise prices when you need them, and lower prices when you don't need them so much.

As for the latter, the advantage of contacting Adams directly to get him to work is that it is very stable, the current price must be within his acceptable range, and there are no other risks.

But the downside is that if he is asked to give up without even trying once, those people in the gang might have some opinions.

After all, they are not pure gangs, but also have some elements of faith. As a saint, he surrendered without even fighting. It is conceivable how many people will leave him later.

A tough choice.

His trusted subordinates may have seen his current confusion and predicament and provided him with an idea that he had not thought of.

"Why don't you give the choice to Lance?"

"Talk to him, maybe the situation isn't that bad!"

Joshua took this advice, asked someone for Lance's number, and dialed it.

(End of this chapter)